Every 35 days, the outer layer of our skin, the epidermis, replaces itself. We get a completely new stomach lining every four days and a “brand new” liver with renewed cells every six months. While it takes a different number of days for different body parts to get renewed, the only constant is change – our body gets continuously updated with new cells. Our body regenerates, cell by cell, with energy provided by the foods we consume. Essentially, we are what we eat.
If you want to boost your health and energize your body, then a colorful diet is what you need. Consuming foods of different colors is the quintessence of a healthy and balanced diet that provides your body with all the nutrients it needs to function at its best. While “eating the rainbow” is nothing new, the revolutionary Waldhotel Colour Cuisine (WCC) has taken parts of this concept and created its very own healthy cuisine program for its wellness retreat guests.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE WALDHOTEL COLOUR CUISINE?
The healthy cuisine concept is an innovative color-orientated nutrition program especially designed and created by Martin Stein, Executive Chef of the Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence, a five-star medical wellness haven, which is part of Bürgenstock Resort located high above Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland. It is a diet that focuses on vegetables and fruits of a particular color each day to maximize the absorption of beneficial nutrients. It also includes a carefully curated tea and a virgin cocktail in the specific color of the day to pair with each meal.
WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY BEHIND IT?
The idea of dividing foods into their colors is based on the fact that identical or similar colored plants often have comparable active ingredients, especially the phytochemicals. For example, tomato and rosehip are both rich in lycopene, a natural antioxidant with a powerful anti-aging effect. It is believed that consuming foods with similar active substances on the same day makes it easier for the body to absorb those nutrients.
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IS THE NUTRITION PROGRAM A LEGITIMATE DIET ANYONE CAN FOLLOW?
Rest assured that the cuisine concept is based on extensive research, as nutritionists at the Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence work closely with a team of doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists, restaurateurs and dieticians. And to provide you with a personalized meal plan that perfectly fits your body and needs, one-on-one consultations and assessments are included in most of the hotel’s wellness programs. After conducting thorough and extensive research on the assessment results, a customized plan will be drawn accordingly to match your unique nutritional profile. As a truly well-rounded diet, it is also supplemented with enriched micronutrients if necessary.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS?
On the one hand, the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine is about maximizing the intake of specific secondary plant compounds in order to enhance one’s overall health. On the other hand, the diversity in eating a different color every day helps to improve the gut microbiome, which aids digestion. Also, Chef Martin Stein only uses plant oils for the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine, such as hemp oil, which has shown to reduce inflammation and is effective in treating a number of skin conditions, such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis. Hemp oil is more than 75 percent omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in a ratio of 3:1, considered to be the optimal nutrition ratio.
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WHAT MAKES THE WALDHOTEL COLOUR CUISINE SO SPECIAL?
Apart from maximizing all benefits from different healthy foods, the cuisine concept simply tastes divine – it is the ultimate indulgence, without the guilt. “A modern wellness cuisine must be more than just healthy. Only if it is also tasty, I have a real chance to convert guests to this ideology,” says Chef Martin Stein. A renowned chef within the Viennese gourmet scene, Chef Martin Stein previously owned an eponymous restaurant in Vienna and worked at Vivamayr, where he revamped the old Mayr cuisine and elevated it to the next level. Therefore, when he says that he combined the best of both worlds for the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine, you know it won’t disappoint.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN INGREDIENTS AND WHERE ARE THEY SOURCED?
At its core, the cuisine program is based on an alkaline diet with an emphasis on fresh and organic ingredients, using very little salt, no sugar, no dairy, no gluten, low carb, and as mentioned above, using only plant oils. “I mostly use organic products for the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine. I also focus on seasonal products. I put a high priority on the health benefits and effects of the ingredients, so I source my ingredients wherever they are in season. If the ingredients are not seasonally exclusive, I source them worldwide, but mostly in Switzerland,” says Chef Martin Stein.
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WHICH GUESTS CAN ENJOY THE CUISINE? DO I HAVE TO BE ON A PROGRAM?
No, you don’t have to. Though the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine is an integral part of the hotel’s health programs, all guests can feel free to order from the set menus at Verbena Restaurant, whether it’s for lunch or dinner.
Of course, the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine is also included in most of the hotel’s half-board programs, and in their full-board programs for its weight loss and detox retreats, along with complementary nutrition consultations, a natural colon cleanse with figs and alkaline powder, and Cooking Lab classes for a hands-on experience to learn some of these cooking skills.
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HOW TAILORED IS THE WALDHOTEL COLOUR CUISINE?
Though there is a basic frame, all meals are adjusted and tailor-made for each guest, based on the information gathered from the consultation sessions.
HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO STICK WITH THE CUISINE CONCEPT?
“Being healthy takes more than just having one healthy dinner. It takes an educational process in changing your lifestyle step by step. And like how every good story needs a teaser, the Waldhotel Colour Cuisine is the teaser that leads you towards becoming a better you. Most importantly, you wouldn’t even miss the usual unhealthy ingredients that are absent in our dishes,” says Chef Martin Stein. When staying at Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence, the healthy meals are prepared for you on a daily basis, and ideally you should continue with the diet program. But don’t worry, the on-site Cooking Lab classes taught by nutritionists and chefs will make sure you get to recreate those flavorful, nutritious and healthy meals back home.
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